


Change is a Constant

by NotAnOrderlyKnight



Series: The Trials of Men and Daedra [1]
Category: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Genre: Death, Edmund needs protecting, everything does not fo to plan, these guys need help, this is my version of what happened with the oblivion crisis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 01:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13671855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotAnOrderlyKnight/pseuds/NotAnOrderlyKnight
Summary: Edmund Mallory, an amnesiac Imperial, wakes up and finds himself in a cell, on the day the emperor attempts to escape the Imperial City. He goes off, intending to leave questing to other people, but finds himself meeting old and new friends and trying to put together the puzzle pieces of his past together.





	Change is a Constant

A soft light gleamed into the dark room, weakly reflecting on the cold and damp stone that made up both the floors and walls. Huddled up in a corner was an Imperial male, groaning softly as he slowly cracked open his eyes, beginning to shiver from the early morning air drifting through the barred window above him. The fabric rags that were his clothes hung loosely over his slender frame as he clutched his sides in a feeble attempt at trying to warm himself. He had long brown hair that reached his shoulders, and eyes a colour blue that of which was comparable to the colour of the sky on a clear day.

The Imperial began to run through his memory as his eyes began to focus on the uneven cobblestone floor. His name was Edmund Mallory, he was twenty seven years of age, he is one of the Imperial race, and… and… Nothing. He had no memory to his name, no family he could think of, friends he could recall, or even the slightest knowledge of how he got to where he was. Only then did Edmund finally focus on his surroundings, eyes widening at the sight of the cell door. How could he have gotten locked up? What did he do? He wracked his brain for any small snippet of knowledge or memory that would serve him well, but he got nothing. Just the same as what he knew for any relationships he may have had. Except for one thing. He was able to identify where he was. Aside from being in a cold cell that is. He was sitting in one of the few confines within the Imperial Prison itself.

His throat clenched as he stumbled upon that realisation, and he slowly crawled to his feet, gripping his arms close to his body in a desperate attempt to preserve what little heat his frame held on that cold morning. Shuffling over to the cell door, he called out, eyes wide and slightly afraid. “Hello… Is anybody there?” He paused, gulping as he heard his own voice. It was hoarse, like that of a voice that had not been used for a very long time. Yet again he called out. “I think there is a mistake, I’m not supposed to be here I don't even know who I am!”

The only reply the Imperial got was dead silence, and a pungent smell drifting from the cell across the hall. Edmund moved closer to the metal bars of the cell door and squinted as he peered into the dark confines of the opposite cell where the smell was coming from. He took a step back, aghast, choking at the sight of a dead Dunmer male prisoner lying on the floor, several bloody wounds on his body.

“How could the guards have done this?” His hoarse voice whispered in horror at the murder scene he presumed the guards had made.

Suddenly clattering echoed down the hall as the noise of sword fighting bounced off the walls, and grunts of fighting could barely be heard over the excessive noise of metal on metal. Edmund tentatively moved closer to the barred door of his cell again, shaking from either nerves or the cold, it didn't matter at this stage. He glanced nervously down the hall at the staircase that lead up into the main entrance of the prison. Edmund jumped when an unseen door was suddenly knocked open, with heavy footfall following the noise, and the door being presumably slammed shut and locked as unknown enemies banged against it in a futile attempt at opening it.

The majority of the footsteps were metallic in origin, coming from what the Imperial presumed were armoured guards. However there was one soft pair of footsteps that was softer, coming from someone who was wearing finely made boots. One can often tell the quality by how quiet they sound on flooring, though Edmund was not sure how exactly he knew that.

A distant elderly voice clashed against the footsteps. “My sons are dead, aren’t they.” The elderly male voice trailed off.

“The messenger only said they were attacked,” A female voice shot back quickly, in an attempt at comfort.

The owners of the voices came into view. One, a female guard, dressed in embellished armour, possibly symbolising captain status. The other, a rich noble by the look of the fine robes that the elderly man was dressed in. There were two other guards, however it was clear that the voices did not belong to them as they were both males in their prime.

The nobleman shook his head sadly, glancing down with an all-knowing look. “No, they are dead,” He exhaled deeply, “I know it.”

“My job right now is to get you to safety.” The female captain said almost sternly as the group stopped outside Edmund's cell, attempting to ignore the foul smell coming from the Dunmer corpse opposite, and the captain looked annoyed. “What’s this prisoner doing here? This cell is supposed to be off-limits”

Edmund recoiled slightly from the bars at the annoyance in her voice, attempting to speak, but only hoarse whispers came out, making it clear that his yelling from before was not even that loud. “I-i-i-”

The imperial prisoner was interrupted by another guard, this one anxious before his superior. “U-usual mix up with the Watch…I-uh..” He trailed off and gulped, some bead of nervous sweat beading on his forehead.

Rubbing the bridge of her nose, the guard captain waved off her subordinate, already sick of excuses “Never mind, just get that gate open.”

Before any guards could tell him to do anything, Edmund slowly backed away from the gate, eyes wide and shaking from either fear or the cold. Probably a little bit of both.

“Stand back, prisoner,” The captain ordered, looking directly at Edmund, “we won’t hesitate to kill you if you get in our way.”

The Imperial prisoner, scrambled away from the door and over to the area underneath the window, since he certainly did not have a death wish, and despite having absolutely no memory of who he was, he was not ready to die just yet. He began shaking even more, from the cold morning air that wafted through the open barred window.

The other guard that had spoken unlocked the gate and entered first, standing beside Edmund, keeping an eye on the him as the Captain moved into the small cell. The female shook her head softly as she sighed, stalking over to one of the inner walls of the cell. “We are not out of this yet.” She began moving her hands along the various stones of the cobbled wall, trying to find some unknown object in the bricks.

As the female was doing that, the elderly nobleman entered the cell, eyes downcast, followed by a third guard. The aged man broke from his melancholy briefly to glance at the occupant of the cell. A puzzled look began to spread across his face and he spoke again. “You, I-I’ve seen you. Let me see your face.” He blinked, as if double checking his vision, “You are the one from my dreams.” The old man’s face saddened, and his eyes fell. “Then the stars were right, and this is the day.”

Edmund tried to go backward further, but found his back against the wall, and was forced to meet the old man in the eyes. Confusion was spread across his face. “I-I don’t know what you’ve been dreaming about, but I can assure you it wasn’t me.” He trailed off, his voice but a hoarse whisper.

“Gods give me strength…” The elderly man muttered under his breath, ignoring Edmund’s confusion for the moment.

Edmund looked at the guards briefly, gulping before turning his attention back to the nobleman and tried his luck. “What is happening? Why are you here? Who are these people?” His rushed questions sounded like nothing more than a garble of noises.

The old nobleman raised a hand to hush the other, glancing away. “Assassins attacked my sons, and I am next.” He gave a small gesture to the odd troop of guards that were escorting him. “My Blades are leading me out of the city along a secret escape route.” He gave a small wry smile towards the gated entrance before turning his attention back to the much younger male. “By chance, the entrance to that escape route leads through your cell.” 

The Blade that was watching Edmund began to move to stop the nobleman from speaking more, but was stopped by the third guard, who had reached an arm out and shook their head, letting the old man speak.

The movements of the Blades were not unnoticed by Edmund, so he spoke up once more, determined to try and get more answers from the man before he would be inevitably killed by these guardsmen. “Who are you? Why am I in jail?” He kept looking nervously at the guards who appeared to be getting restless, and towards the female who was still searching for something on the wall.

“For your second question, perhaps the Gods have placed you here so that we may meet.” The elderly nobleman spoke almost fondly. “As for what you have done to end up here…” He shook his head gently. “It does not matter.” 

Edmund’s eyes widened at this and began to sputter. “D-does… doesn…”

A faint echo of a smile was on the greying nobleman’s face. “That is not what you will be remembered for.” He acknowledged the second question, his head tilting slightly as he spoke of who he was. “I am your Emperor, Uriel Septim.” The emperor faintly smile when seeing Edmund’s eyes widen impossibly more with his mouth hanging ajar. “By the grave of the Gods, I serve Tamriel as her ruler.”

If Edmund’s mind could work any faster, it would have surely broken. These events were surely impossible, a person with no knowledge of who they were, being consulted with by an emperor. It sounded like an excerpt from a story. 

The Emperor glanced at the nervous and impatient Blades that were serving as his guards, before bringing his attention back to the prisoner in front of him. “You are a citizen of Tamriel, and you, too, shall serve her in your own way.”

“B-ut? H-ow?” Edmund was speaking quickly, almost incomprehensibly so. “In case your majesty hasn’t noticed, I am just a prisoner here…” He shook his head, in an attempt to clear his fast working brain. “I clearly go my own way..”

Despite Edmund’s confusion and muddled brain, Uriel continued to speak slowly. “So do we all.” He gave the other a knowing look, “But what path can be avoided whose end is fixed by the almighty Gods?”

Before Edmund could even remotely think of replying, the female Blade seemingly found what she was looking for. “Aha!” She turned to the emperor, remembering what exactly they were doing, “Please sire, we must keep moving.” As she said this, she pressed a small palm sized stone on the wall, and part of the brick wall swung open, revealing a dark passageway. She looked down the hall, giving a concerned expression into the darkness. “We had better not close this one, there is no way to open it from the other side.”

The Redguard Blade that was the most agitated let out a sigh of relief at the sight of another passageway, clearing thankful that there was still a direction to escape in. Despite being somewhat skeptical of Edmund, he gave the Imperial a brief grin. “Looks like it is your lucky day, just stay out of our way.”

The group of Blades entered the passageway, surrounding the emperor Septim, as they strode into the darkness and around a corner. Edmund was left standing in the cell, quite clueless as to what just happened even though it was explained to him. He stood there, staring into the blackness of the recently created hallway, then caught whiff of the rotting corpse in the cell opposite him again. He glanced at the corpse again, cringing his nose. “Yeah… not going to stay here…” He stumbled off into the darkness to catch up to the group of escaping people.  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank my friends for reading this chapter and supporting me and my interests.  
> Also I will add more tags later, and this will deviate more from the typical canon as the fic progresses.


End file.
